Neshama’s Choices for October 7

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O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

Janet is a quintessential misfit—brilliant, dreamy, and infinitely curious about the natural world with a strong connection to animals, but she finds people anathema.  Her chilly mother Vera is appalled by her behavior. Her father Hector has other things on his mind, like creating a school for boys in their huge pile of a house in the highlands of Scotland. We know Janet’s fate from the get-go (she’s murdered at 16), but the author fills in the back story with such evocative language that I think Janet would have been miserable if she had lived. The writing took my breath away. This is Barker’s only novel though she wrote for many publications, and sadly died in 2022. The book was published in 1991; this new edition has an introduction by the estimable Maggie O’Farrell.

Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi

In Nigeria, Aima, naive and principled, breaks up with her boyfriend Kali because he won’t agree to get married. She moves in with her friend Ijendu, who is also friends with two sex workers. Kalu’s best friend from childhood, Ahmed, is a player who runs sex parties. Attending one, Kalu sees what he thinks is a child being raped and tries to rescue her, making a big scene. This is an extremely unfortunate act because he’d assailed Daddy O, an obscenely rich and powerful clergyman. Aima and friends all get swept up into complex, dangerous doings that reveal the not-so-little rot that lies just below the glamorous, sophisticated surface.  Rough stuff, hypnotically fascinating.

The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger

Subtitled How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth. Plants “see,” they “hear,” they communicate, they change shape to attract or repel, in ways we’re just learning to discover. Electricity and bacteria play pivotal roles. Schlanger pursues the scientists who delve into these inquiries. They are often at odds with their conservative brethren, partly because hard data can be tricky to reproduce and also because their experiments lead to philosophical conjectures. The author is a glorious enthusiast who talks directly to us with great descriptions and questions; it’s like having a guide who’s also a good friend at your elbow. And I bet you’ll look at your houseplants and garden with a fresh, unsettling perspective. A winner!

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

In the late 1700s, Martha, a midwife in Maine, gets caught up in a tangled, tragic series of events.  A dead body found frozen in the river, charges of rape, dubious “justice,” and more play out, implicating members of Martha’s big family.  (Everyone’s family was big in those days.) Martha, now in her 50s, is strong, skilled, and very outspoken which puts her at considerable risk. Her character is based on a historical figure who left a diary, and the author used the material to craft a gripping tale that mixes real events and imagination that results in a very gripping story.